I was first pointed in the direction of Kingfishr back in summer when they played Leeds Festival.
Coming from an Irish family who are proudly from the west coast, it felt like an obligation to make sure I checked them out. I’ve already written about my time seeing them at Leeds Festival (make sure to give it a read if you haven’t already) but what I will say is that Irish musicians play shows like their lives depend on it and Kingfishr at Leeds Stylus was no exception.
After getting pizza by the slice from an amazing little Italian deli across from the university, we headed over in time to catch the support act. Kerr Mercer was brilliant. With a voice that captured the audience, they were a great choice to open the show. A special shout out for a spectacular cover of Tom Odell’s Another Love.
For Kingfishr’s entrance on stage, there was a build up of instruments, low lighting and one by one the band appeared.
Jumping (literally) into “I Cried, I Wept” frontman Edmond Keogh sent a clear message that this was going to be quite the show. Going where bands rarely go before at Leeds Stylus, Keogh dived into the crowd, got into the accessible lift (whilst still singing) and gracefully raised up amongst his adoring fans. Kingfishr have quite the reputation for really getting into the crowds during their shows. Videos often appear of members climbing, hanging off the stage and genuinely wanting that engagement with the people.
A beautiful example of this is when the boys all got into the middle of the audience, turned the lights off, and had everyone illuminate Leeds Stylus with their phone whilst they performed Shot In The Dark, a track that perfectly narratives the unpredictable journey of making and touring music together.
When you go to a Kingfishr show you learn a lot about the band. They have a brilliant storytelling ability, and it’s wonderful to see that this doesn’t only live within their songs. Anecdotes of having to choose between degrees in engineering or becoming fully fledged rockstars, through to romances behind songs, to writing tracks on a beloved dairy farm, you feel like you’ve experienced it all with them by the end.
Edmond Keogh, Eoghan McGrath, and Eoin Fitzgibbon are clearly on quite the journey – Kingfishr not only did a very successful run of festivals in the summer, but they also sold out their entire UK headline tour before a debut album has even been whispered. We were lucky enough to be treated to some major hits from the boys, but also a new song that is due to be released soon. Man On The Moon gave us a taste of Manic Street Preachers guitar lines with a modern twist. A great radio track for sure.
This is a band for everyone: great music, hilarious stories and gorgeous nods to traditional Irish culture. Their live shows truly are so entertaining and fun. I am really enjoying watching these phenomenal bands from all genres emerge from the Emerald Isle. It’s a great time to be a music fan and in the words of Kingfishr themselves “so long; we’ll see you at the next one”.
Here’s the Leeds Festival review Charlotte mentions:
https://leedsliving.co.uk/music-dance/leeds-festival-day-1-reviewed/
Kingfishr photography by Steffi eisert.
